One of Michael Malone’s core coaching philosophies with the Nuggets is rooted in an old-school but obvious idea.
“What I do now obviously is trying to have Nikola (Jokic) or Jamal (Murray) on the floor at all times, and that’s something that my father would always talk about,” Malone said Monday before the Nuggets defeated Utah and improved to 4-0. “Whether it was a guy like Phil Jackson always having either Scottie (Pippen) or Michael (Jordan) on the floor, you want to have one of your horses available and on the court at all times.”
That makes it easy to credit Denver’s success at any given moment to whichever of those two players is on the floor. But as for who is surrounding Murray or Jokic, this season was expected to be one big never-ending adjustment. No more Bruce Brown. No more Jeff Green. Some bench assembly required.
So far, somehow, the system appears seamless.
It’s only four games, but a sample size is starting to accumulate for Denver’s new-look bench, which Malone has mostly kept nine-deep with the exception of garbage time and a handful of Julian Strawther minutes. The early returns aren’t at all indicative of the work-in-progress nature that was anticipated.
Nuggets bench players are outscoring opponents’ bench players 132-105 and shooting 50.5% from the field with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.58. Opposing benches have been held to 38.3% from the field and a 1.44 ratio.
In 28 minutes on the floor together, the Nuggets’ most common lineup aside from the starting five — Murray, Reggie Jackson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Zeke Nnaji — has a superb defensive rating of 83.6. Entering Tuesday night’s slate, only one lineup in the NBA with that many minutes played together had a better defensive rating.
“Anyone can go off any night,” said Nnaji, whose switchability has been the defensive glue.
That sentiment might be the key to sustained success. Consistency will be hard to come by with such a young bench. But if at least one of Denver’s sixth through ninth options has a standout game every night, the Nuggets will be in great position.
In Memphis and especially Oklahoma City, it was Watson. Malone was harsh on the second-year forward after the season opener, saying Watson shouldn’t assume bench minutes automatically belonged to him. They had a conversation to get that message across. Watson responded with 26 points, seven rebounds and four blocks across two games.
“It was a super-positive, constructive conversation,” Watson told The Post. “He wouldn’t take the time to do that if he didn’t feel like I had the potential to be super-great. So I obviously took in everything he said, soaked it up like a sponge. … I’ve had hard coaches all my life, so I know exactly how to deal with (tough love). I’m more flattered than anything, that he cares that much to say that stuff to me.”
In Memphis, it was Jackson as much as Watson. The 33-year-old point guard scored 18 through three quarters against the Grizzlies. Jackson has interestingly been first off the bench instead of Braun, despite Braun averaging more minutes. It’s working. The Nuggets’ third most common unit so far is the starters with Jackson subbed in for Murray. In 20 minutes, that lineup has an offensive rating of 125.6, a defensive rating of 90.9 and a 68.1% true shooting mark.
Now Braun has taken over the last two games. He scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds across the first back-to-back of the season and earned fourth-quarter minutes with the starters (minus Michael Porter Jr.) Monday. The day before, Porter got hot and played with the bench unit during the second quarter. Porter was more than happy with that setup.
“With the first unit, we have so many good players; we all have a role,” Porter told The Post. “With the second unit I can do a little bit more of what I’ve been doing my whole life.”
Role reversals like that signify the flexibility Malone has with his rotations right now. Within the parameters of the philosophy his dad taught him (at least one star on the floor at all times), almost anything he tries early this season is working.
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